A recent study found that individuals who exhibit empathy, the capacity to comprehend and share another person’s emotions and experiences, might find themselves susceptible to depressive symptoms if they are in relationship with a partner with depression.
The research, published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, underscores how empathetic partners sharing depression symptoms can influence the course of a relationship and partner mental health.
The findings revealed that empathetic individuals, when partnered with non-depressive counterparts, generally experience fewer depressive symptoms. However, when the partners endure higher depression levels, these empathetic individuals can be prone to experiencing heightened symptoms themselves.
Empathy, a cornerstone of meaningful human connection, engenders trust, understanding, and support. It allows individuals to provide comfort, validation, and emotional succor to those in distress, fostering compassion and a sense of belonging.
The findings of a second study corroborate these observations concerning partners sharing depression. When caregivers are placed in the position of offering care to highly depressed individuals, their level of empathy correlates with an increase in their own depressive symptoms.
Conversely, caregivers tending to care receivers with minimal or no depressive symptoms experience reduced depression symptoms when possessing higher empathic accuracy.
However, caregivers exhibiting low empathic accuracy do not demonstrate a link between the severity of the care receiver’s and their own depressive symptoms. The study’s authors caution that although empathic accuracy is generally seen as beneficial for mental health and social functioning, their results caution against the unchecked pursuit of interventions aimed at enhancing empathic accuracy.
They emphasize that individuals endowed with elevated empathic accuracy may inadvertently absorb their close partners’ depressive symptoms. This study’s insights shed light on the interplay between empathy and mental well-being but are circumscribed by inherent limitations.
The research design precludes making causal inferences from the results, leaving unanswered questions about whether empathy triggers a ‘contagion’ of depression or if depression diminishes empathy.
Surprisingly, a growing body of research suggests that empathy might also harbor adverse effects on mental health, particularly partners sharing depression. The act of empathizing can be demanding and emotionally taxing, contributing to heightened stress and negative emotions in the empathizing individual.
Consequently, caregivers, particularly those constantly engaging with others’ suffering, tend to exhibit higher rates of mental health issues. Mental health professionals often grapple with secondary trauma and compassion fatigue, where prolonged exposure to others’ traumatic experiences induces emotional and psychological distress mirroring the symptoms of direct trauma exposure.
Lead author Casey L. Brown and her collaborators sought to investigate whether a partner’s depressive and anxious symptoms influence the link between empathic accuracy and mental well-being.
The first study encompassed 156 middle-aged and elderly heterosexual married couples, whose marriages averaged 31 years in duration. The second study featured 102 informal caregivers responsible for individuals with dementia. The caregivers were predominantly spouses, with the remainder being unmarried partners, family members, and friends.
The participants in both studies underwent evaluations of depressive and anxiety symptoms, while the assessment of empathic accuracy involved activities such as discussing ongoing conflicts and rating emotional states during video viewings.
In the first study, individuals with high empathic accuracy and partners exhibiting significant depressive symptoms were more prone to having elevated depressive symptoms themselves. Conversely, high empathic accuracy paired with non-depressive partners resulted in lower personal depressive symptoms.
However, participants with low empathic accuracy displayed no correlation between partner and self-depressive symptom severity. The study also shed light on the association between empathic accuracy, depression, and anxiety, providing insights into the complex dynamics between empathy and mental health.
